Finally...a location for new high school?

After years of school board deliberation, location studies, public hearings and sometimes hot debate, North Liberty and some of its residents await to see if the community will finally gain its own high school facility.
The Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD) planned to agree on a site for a new high school at the board’s July 9 meeting (subsequent to the publication of this newspaper’s edition). Early this week, district officials said they were unable to comment on the exact location. Assistant Superintendent Ann Feldmann said she couldn’t confirm the proposed location “until the board takes action to purchase the land. This is due to the requirement that we don’t assist land speculators,” Feldmann said.
In a meeting on June 19, the ICCSD Facilities Steering Committee reported it had come to a general consensus on constructing a third high school with a capacity ranging from 1,400 to 1,600 students, which also constitutes additional changes to current junior high feeder schools, including North Central Junior High in North Liberty. Many of the committee’s proposals and changes are expected to take place over the next 10 years.
Debate about building a North Liberty high school has been ongoing over the last decade, but now the vision seems closer to reality. Construction on the new facility could begin as early as spring 2015.